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Inter boss Spalletti does not regret Nainggolan-Zaniolo swap

Luciano Spalletti claims he’s happy to see Nicolo Zaniolo flourishing with Roma after he was part of a swap deal involving Radja Nainggolan during the summer transfer window.

Roma and Inter played out a 2-2 draw in Serie A on Sunday, with the home side coming from behind to level the scoring on two separate occasions.

Promising midfielder Zaniolo played 77 minutes for Roma and has become an increasingly important part of their team in recent weeks.

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Nainggolan was ruled out of the game with an ankle injury but has three goals in 13 appearances to his name so far this term.

The deal between the two sides saw Inter pay Roma €24 million (£21m/$27m) for Nainggolan, with Zaniolo and Davide Santon moving to the Italian capital as makeweights.

Speaking after the match on Sunday, Spalletti said it’s unfair to assess the deal by directly comparing Zaniolo and Nainggolan, when they were not the only two players involved in the transfer.

"Zaniolo has entered in a (larger) deal. Tonight he has played a good match and I am glad because he has some qualities and [Eusebio] Di Francesco is pulling them out,” the Inter boss said.

He has been put into a (larger) deal, at the end we will see who arrives where, where you arrive and where I arrive and people will see who brings home what. 

“There was not only Zaniolo (in that deal), there were other players, costs, capital gains and transfer moves. You have to say the whole thing, there were three players in the deal.”

At just 19, many consider midfielder Zaniolo to be one of Italy’s most exciting young players.

Inter sold Philippe Coutinho to Liverpool for a nominal fee in 2013 and have been made to regret this after the Brazilian’s immense development in recent years. They will be hoping that their decision to sell Zaniolo does not come back to bite them in a similar fashion.

Full-back Santon also started the game against his former side and has made nine appearances so far this season.

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